Dhoni praises Mishra, Ashwin for fantastic bowling effort

Lauderhill (Florida): India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni heaped praise on off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and leg-spinner Amit Mishra for putting up a “fantastic effort” to bowl out the West Indies for a low score in the second Twenty20 International cricket match here.

After the one-run defeat in the high-scoring first game, Indian bowlers came back well to bowl out West Indies for 143. Mishra picked up three wickets for 24 runs in his four overs, while Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami picked up two wickets each to restrict the reigning T20 champions to a below-par total.

But the second match was abandoned due to rain and West Indies bagged the two-match series 1-0.

“I felt bowlers executed plans very well; 150 was a good score to achieve. I’m not saying we would have definitely won, but a good batting effort would have seen us through. If you compare the two games, you’d wonder if we were playing on the same wicket!” Dhoni told reporters here.

“We did take a bit of risk with Mishra coming in, replacing (Stuart) Binny, because we were one batsman short. We realise on a wicket like this, we needed an extra bowler and a leg-spinner can give you wickets,” the 35-year-old added.

“It paid off well. Mishra bowled exceedingly well, he was able to put pressure and he was well supported by Ashwin. It’s fantastic effort by both of them.”

This was the first time international cricket was staged in the United States and the 2011 World Cup winning skipper believes that more matches should be played here.

“This is one place where we can come back and play lot of cricket, maybe a triangular or a four-nation ODI or T20 series. It will be better to play T20s to start off. The venue looks good,” he said.

“It will also let us spend more time in the US (unlike this time) when we played back-to-back games. It will easily fit into our schedule as well because we don’t play many games this time of year at home,” Dhoni added.

“Yes, it will be a bit cramped for international cricketers, but I don’t think modern cricketers mind it. Also, the money making ability of this place, the spectators will come, the time suits broadcasters. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. It’s a good venue to continue cricket.”

West Indies skipper Carlos Brathwaite said his team would love to comeback to the US and play again.

“Most definitely we would love to come here back again. Fantastic field, fantastic wicket. We had discussions if we can come here again,” Brathwaite said.